Events_

May 18, 2020

During the COVID-19 epidemic, many if not most people are accessing health information online, and often through social media platforms. Social media can be a vital tool in disseminating the latest health reports, but it has also been used to circulate misinformation, with sometimes detrimental influence on public health understanding and outcomes.This discussion considers the recent experience of health misinformation and disinformation in social media environments in China and Australia. What kinds of health information are circulated? Why do we share misinformation and what impact has it had on the pandemic, in China and Australia? How is social media changing the experience and expectations of public health?

Chair: Dr Selina LoSenior Research Fellow at Monash Sustainable Development Institute and Consulting Editor at The Lancet journal

Panellists:

•Dr Zhaoli Joy Dai-Keller Epidemiologist & Postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Sydney Pharmacy School and the Charles Perkins Centre

•Associate Professor Adam Dunn Head of Discipline and Associate Professor in the Discipline of Biomedical Informatics and Digital Health, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney

•Associate Professor Tian Xie Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Wuhan University, where he is also Director of the Philosophy and Psychology Experimental Teaching Center